Japan moving towards inflation target as trade deficit makes record run

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Monday that the Japan is “on track” to hit its inflation target.

Speaking at the opening of a quarterly meeting of managers from the BoJ's domestic branches and US and European offices, he said that the central bank's aggressive monetary easing launched in April is “clearly having its desired effects, and the Japanese economy is steadily moving toward achieving the price stability target” set by the BoJ of 2 percent inflation.

The weaker yen that resulted from the BoJ's aggressive easing, however, has not helped Japan's trade balance. The Finance Ministry reported on Monday that the country's trade deficit hit 932.1 billion yen in September, up 64.1 percent from a year earlier. That was the 15th consecutive month of deficit, the longest on record.

Exports rose 11.5 percent in September from a year earlier while imports jumped 16.5 percent on higher import costs.